Before he became a hideous, grotesque science project, Barry Bonds was a skinny, speedy outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Back then, Bonds teamed with Bobby Bonilla to give the Pittsburgh Pirates an NL East mini-dynasty. They won a bunch of division titles. Well, that’s it. End of story. Still, baseball mattered in the steel city during the early 1990s.
Since then, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball has been a pathetic joke. They’ve been the National League version of the Kansas City Royals; a small market organ bank for real, actual MLB clubs.
Until this year.
Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates, those Pittsburgh Pirates, are the best team in baseball. This is not a drill! That headline is not a typo.
So who’s on this team? Anyone you’ve heard of? Jason Kendall? Jason Bay? Nope, both long gone. The team with the racing pierogis has no NL All-Star starters, not that it means that much, the All-Stars are a dumb, overrated popularity contest anyhow. The Pittsburgh Pirates have three All-Star reserves: 3B Pedro Alvarez, who’s like a much less bad Adam Dunn. He’s a lefty power hitter who hits a lot of home runs. Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen is a superstar, you know him. No need to elaborate.
LHP Jeff Locke is the Pirates All-star representation from the pitching staff. He’s been dominant, 8-1 with a 2.12 ERA. Ex Chicago White Sox Jason Grilli is a stellar closer; and he’s finished out 28 saves for the Pittsburgh Pirates thus far into the season. And former White Sox and Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano has remade himself in the NL; His numbers are dominant.
Leftfielder Starling Marte is a big reason the Pittsburgh Pirates are 20 games over .500 and one of the team’s best talents. First baseman Garrett Jones is decent too. The Pittsburgh Pirates lead over the Cardinals is just a skinny game. And the Cincinnati Reds are right there too; just 3.5 games out. So it should be an exciting NL Central pennant race.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. (“Quasi-endorsed” by Philadelphia Eagles Coach Chip Kelly) He’s also an author who contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
Banks has appeared on the History Channel, as well as ESPN and CBS radio all over the world. The NFL, NBA expert does a weekly spot for 95.7 The Fan. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@PaulMBanks), like him on Facebook